Not Quite a Consolation
by Death's Daughter
Summary: For the second contest over on jamponyfic on lj. Sketchy has to beat Alec in a pool game. Could be vaguely MaxAlec. Max and Alec make a bet...


"I bet," Max drawled consideringly, "that you can't go a whole day without beating someone."

"Why should I have to?" Alec asked, lounging back against the lockers. "I thought you were all about being true to yourself, and what I am is better. Fact of life."

Max rolled her eyes as she did her gloves up.

"That's why," she told him. "Because you're an arrogant jerk."

"And you're the bitchqueen from Hell. Your point?"

"My point is that at least I can lose graciously." She tugged her locker door open and it swung back, hitting the lockers beside it with a 'clang', narrowly missing Alec's head. "But I bet you couldn't lose even if someone paid you. It'd just kill you, wouldn't it? You wouldn't be able to do it."

"If you're trying to goad me into making a bet with you it's not gonna work like that," Alec informed her with a lazy grin. "I could do it easy, but I'm not gonna unless you make it worth my while."

Max closed her locker and turned to face him.

"Alright. What?"

"If I win..." Alec said slowly, his grin widening. "You have to kiss me."

Max stared at him, then a thoughtful grin spread across her face.

"Okay," she said, and Alec raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't been expecting her to agree. "And if you lose?"

"I'll be your slave for a day."

"My slave?"

"Anything you want," Alec said, pushing off the lockers and moving closer to her. "I'll do. For twenty-four hours."

"You're on." Max grinned wolfishly at him. "Starting now, you can't win anything - any challenges, bets whatever. You've gotta last until this time tomorrow."

"Easy," Alec scoffed.

"But you can't let anyone else know." She raised her eyebrows. "You can't act any differently. Any bets you normally would make, you've gotta make. You've just gotta lose."

"You don't think I can do it," Alec observed, holding his hand out to grip hers, shaking on the bet. "Just you watch. And practise puckering, while you're at it."

He winked at her and sauntered off. Original Cindy appeared from around the lockers, filing her nails.

"Think yo' boy realises he can't win this contest?" she asked idly.

"No way." Max grinned at her friend. "He'll go out of his way to lose, just to prove me wrong. And then tomorrow he'll realise that by losing everything, he'll have beaten me, so he'll have lost."

"And you get the satisfaction of him losing all day for no reason." Cindy grinned at Max. "Boo, you cruel, but so damn _good_ at it."

"Natural talent," Max said lightly.

-----

"I like strawberry flavour best," Alec told Max, as he leaned over her to grab the pitcher of beer.

"What?" Max demanded, shooting him a look that clearly showed she thought he was nuts.

"Lip gloss," he clarified with a grin. "For tomorrow."

Her lip curled up in distaste as he made kissy faces at her on his way back to the table.

"Oh I am gonna enjoy watching him lose," she told Original Cindy as they watched Alec start flirting shamelessly with an insipid-looking blonde.

"Ladies!" Sketchy came up behind the two of them, draping his arms over their shoulders. "Tonight, drinks will be on me because it is my lucky night."

"Foo', the night you have a lucky night is the night Original Cindy finds a male attractive." Cindy pushed his arm off her shoulder with a look of distaste.

"Oh ye of little faith," Sketchy intoned. "I'm serious, Alec has been losing to me all day. Races, bets - I even beat him at _arm-wrestling_." He flexed his arm in front of Cindy's face and she shot him a look that managed in the space of a second to communicate that if he did not move it at once, she would break it off. "I am in the _zone_! And I'm going to win back everything Alec has ever won off me, just you watch!"

He bounced off across to where Alec was, Cindy and Max watching.

"I kinda don't have the heart to tell him Alec's letting him win," Max said thoughtfully. "It'd be like kicking a puppy."

"A stupid, skinny white-boy puppy who's not got the sense God gave a rat," Cindy pointed out.

Max glanced at her with a grin.

"I never said it was a puppy that couldn't do with a kick."

On the other side of the club, Sketchy made his challenge, grinning the grin of one blissfully unaware that everyone else knows something he doesn't.

Alec went to agree, then paused and glanced over to where Max was. He met her gaze and, as she watch, a huge, smug grin spread across his face and he agreed. Max raised an eyebrow.

"Oh this I _gotta_ see." She picked up her beer and threaded her way over to the pool table, Cindy close behind.

The game was a long one, Alec working hard to play worse than Sketchy, a task which required more concentration than just beating him. As it progressed, Alec, never one to do things by halves, became more and more creative.

At one point he sent the cue ball flying off the table and across the bar, knocking a couple of glasses off a nearby table with a smash.

"He could at least _try_ to make it look like he's not doing it on purpose," Max muttered, as Sketchy missed a ball, then on his next go Alec missed his own spectacularly and potted two of Sketchy's instead. "There's no way Sketchy's gonna believe Alec's not doing it intentionally."

"Boo, I think you're overestimating that boy's intelligence," Cindy drawled, swirling the ice in her glass.

Steadily, Alec cleared the table of Sketchy's balls, always just missing his own before potting his friend's.

"I think I could qualify this as cheating," Max mused. "After all, he's still winning the game – just for the wrong side."

"What's the point? You're already gonna crush him tomorrow anyway," Cindy pointed out. "Let him think he's clever for a little while longer."

Sketchy cleared his throat dramatically, flexing his fingers and arms, stretching as he picked up his pool cue and swaggered to the table. Alec leant on his own cue a little way away, caught Max's eye and grinned, winking. The table had been set up perfectly by Alec, so all Sketchy had to do was pot the 8-ball.

He leaned over the table, making a huge show of taking aim and lining up the cue ball. He took the shot and the cue ball knocked into the 8-ball with a satisfying 'click', pushing it towards the corner pocket. The 8-ball rolled slowly to the pocket and teetered on the edge, coming to a stop.

Alec glanced around, then gave a loud, dramatic cough and kicked the table subtly, causing the 8-ball to topple in.

"Victory!" Sketchy cried, flinging his arms in the air, while Alec looked suitably crestfallen and handed over the sheaf of cash.

Sketchy took it and led the way to the bar with a cheer, while the X5 laid his cue on the table and sauntered over to Max.

"See you tomorrow," he said cheerfully as he passed. "And remember, strawberry."

-----

Alec was leaning against Max's locker when she turned up the next morning. As she got nearer he held out a small tube.

"What's this?" she asked, her lip curling in distaste as she took it off him.

"Strawberry flavour," he said with a wide grin. "Didn't think you'd bring any."

"You thought right." She handed it to Cindy as the other girl came up beside her. Cindy inspected it, then opened her locker to start putting it on using the mirror stuck to the door. "Because there ain't no way in hell that I'm kissing you."

Alec laughed.

"You aren't backing out on our bet now, Maxie are you? That was the deal, wasn't it? You win, you get to humiliate me; I win, I get to humiliate you."

"Was that what that was about? _Humiliating_ me?"

"That and you're hot." He grinned toothily. "If you weren't, y'know, you, I totally would. But you hate me, right? And I ain't exactly too fond of you either – so what could be better than making you kiss me? Which, by the way, I'm not letting you get out of."

"That ain't your problem," Max said. "You lost."

He frowned.

"No, see, I didn't," he said. "Twenty-four hours, I didn't win anything. So I beat you…" He trailed off and realisation dawned as a smug grin spread across Max's face. "Oh…You evil evil bitch. You're good. You're _very _good."

"Girls kick ass," Max said lightly. "Says so - "

"On the t-shirt, yeah yeah, I know." He rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his head. "Fine," he said. "I can take this like a man. When and where?"

"Oh, that would just spoil the surprise." Max grinned and patted his cheek pleasantly. "It'll be when you least expect it. Now, I've gotta get back to work." She winked at him and sauntered off, Alec watching her with the look of a man waiting for his death sentence.

Cindy blotted her newly-glossed lips on a piece of tissue and closed the locker door.

"Boo," she told him. "Don't even bother _tryin'_ to outsmart my girl at that sort of game. She will kick yo' ass any day o' the week and twice on Sundays." She licked her lips thoughtfully. "You do, however, have better taste in makeup."

She sashayed off.

"Yeah," Alec muttered. "Like _that's_ any consolation."


End file.
